Meliodas walked around Margaret Town planning his next move. As he walked down the main street, a building at the corner of his eye caught his attention. He saw a sign mounted in front that said "Margaret Tavern." Thinking the tavern would be a good place to get a meal and plan his route, he went inside.
The tavern was dimly lit with dark wood furniture and cobblestone floors. He took a seat at a table in the corner and a waitress approached him. He ordered some food and as the waitress left him, he summoned his map of Fiore and placed it on the table. 'Lets see, the Master said that the other guild I can ask is Blue Pegasus...'
Meliodas looked over the map and saw the distance between Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus. He slapped his forehead and sighed. 'It's on the other side of the country….it doesn't help that Fiore is so much larger than Britannia...'
Meliodas continued looking at the map, surveying the surrounding land until he found a spot in between the two guilds, the kingdom's capital, Crocus. 'I can stop here first for a quick rest and maybe some information before going to Blue Pegasus.' Meliodas thought.
After deciding on his plan, he put away the map as his food arrived. Finishing his meal swiftly, he paied his tab and went outside. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and looked up at the sky. It was still early in the afternoon. Meliodas looked around and saw no one in the vicinity. Tired of taking trains, he activated his darkness, causing it to leak out from his back and molded it to form a pair of sharp wings. Meliodas squatted down temporarily before he leaped high into the air with great force, kicking up a small amount of dust where he was standing. He soared high above Margaret Town as he went North towards Crocus.
As the sun was beginning to set, when Meliodas arrived in the skies above Crocus and took in the view. Behind Crocus, the sky was a reddish, orange tint, much like flames. Underneath, Crocus was a large town, larger than Magnolia and Margaret, with a vast amount of buildings in a circular pattern. In the middle of the pattern, was an enormous castle. As Meliodas got closer to the ground, he could see a bountiful amount of different colored flowers that adorned the streets, with an assortment of flowerbeds that were placed at every corner.
Meliodas hovered above the city before he found a quiet corner of the city to land. He landed in an alleyway and receded his darkness back into his body and walked down the street, admiring the scenery and the aroma of flowers that filled the air. As he continued down the street, he found an inn and got a room for the night. On his bed, he laid down and closed his eyes.
'Finding information on this magic is exhausting. I wonder if I should just explore the capital tomorrow.'
---
The next morning, within the castle of Crocus, a tall, muscular and well-built man was standing in the library. He had brown wavy hair and long sideburns that ran down his face to his beard. He was extremely focused on his book when a voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Sir Arcadios!!"
Arcadios felt a little annoyed that someone interrupted his reading and looked towards the soldier.
"What happened?"
"Sir the princess has run out of the castle again." The soldier said nervously. Arcadios sighed and closed his book.
"Again…. It's fine, her personal guard are always secretly protecting her when she steps out. Whenever she runs away she usually returns a few hours later."
"Yes… sir." The soldier said.
---
The night passed and Meliodas left the inn. As he was preparing to leave town he noticed a small figure, like that of a young child running towards his direction. The child was wearing a dark brown cloak that covered their body down to the ankles. Despite the hood, Meliodas still saw the child's face as the child got closer. It was a young girl around 11 years old with large dark green eyes. She had a smile on her face as she ran past him towards an alleyway.
Meliodas was about to walk away when he noticed a few figures following closely behind the girl. The girl was unaware of their presence but Meliodas kept an eye on them. He rushed towards the strange figures who also entered the alley.
Meliodas instantly appeared in front of the pursuers. The three figures stopped in front of Meliodas. They were all wearing black cloaks with hoods and masks that covered their faces, leaving only their mouths visible.
"Well, well, well, what's going on here?" Meliodas asked as he faced the three figures.
"Who are you?" One of them asked.
"I could ask the same of you three." Meliodas responded.
"Who we are doesn't concern you. Get out of our way if you know what's good for you." One of the other figures responded.
Meliodas sighed and vanished from their sight, much to their surprise. He reappeared behind the three of them, knocking each of them out with a swift chop to the back of the head. Meliodas moved their unconscious bodies out of the way and looked back to where he last saw the girl. He went towards her direction and saw her again at the end of the alleyway towards another open street. There, she was buying fruit from the vendors. She paid for her food and sat down on a nearby bench and began eating. Despite the fruit being a particularly juicy one, she left little if not any mess at all. Meliodas saw she was okay and was about to leave but he looked back at the three unconscious bodies of the girl's pursuers. It wouldn't sit right with him if there were more of them and he just left.
Meliodas approached her. She was still smiling, blissfully unaware of her pursuers. From this close, under her hood he could see the child's green hair.
"Yo." Meliodas said as he walked up to her. The girl looked up as she just finished eating the fruit. She looked up quickly, and saw to her relief it was a young blond boy approaching her.
"Hello." She responded poshly.
"Did you know that there were people chasing you?" Meliodas questioned.The young girl became noticeably startled and she looked around the area. To her relief, she saw no one else but them in the area.
"Don't worry, they left." Meliodas said with a smile.
"Is that so? That's a relief then." The young girl replied. She didn't know who he was talking about, but she thanked him anyway. She didn't feel too much suspicion towards Meliodas since he looked almost the same age as her. Meliodas thought about her situation for a brief moment and started to piece it together.
'Those guys I knocked out earlier...did this girl run away from home or something?' Meliodas thought. Her silver spoon accent was distinct and her mannerisms were easily recognizable by Meliodas, having spent many years of his life as royalty or serving royalty.
"Did you run away from home?"
The young girl was surprised at Meliodas's deduction and nodded.
"Yes, but I ask that you do not tell anyone. I do not wish to go back yet. I am always stuck indoors, reading books and learning. I rarely get to go outside and explore..."
Meliodas chuckled at the situation.
"I see. So this isn't the first time you have run away then. What did you run out this time for?"
"I am going to find a guild!!" She responded, with fiery determination in her dark green eyes.
"Oh, why do you want to find a guild?" Meliodas was slightly surprised as he asked.
"I want to see all different kinds of magic. My father told me that guilds are always going on adventures." She replied enthusiastically. "There's one guild I especially want to see. Fairy Tail!"
Her answer surprised Meliodas. Fairy Tail was a lot more well known than he had originally thought. Before saying something, he thought about the situation briefly. His research was going nowhere so far so taking a small detour wouldn't be a huge impact.
"Alright, how about this. I'll take you to Fairy Tail!" Meliodas said.
The girl gave Meliodas a skeptical smile and thought he was showing off.
"I do not mean to sound rude but you look hardly older than me. How could you possibly take me there?"
Meliodas grinned and pulled up his right sleeve, showing his guild insignia on his arm. The girl looked at the insignia and immediately, her eyes lit up with excitement upon seeing it.
"You are in Fairy Tail!" She blurted out loudly in surprise.
"Yup! I'm Meliodas of Fairy Tail. So what do you think, you want to see the guild now?"
"Meliodas...I see. I am Hisui E.- uh just Hisui. But can you really show me? But I am not sure if I can leave the city. My father will worry if I'm gone for too long..."
"Don't worry, I can bring you over there and have you back here in no time." Meliodas said reassuringly as Hisui's eyes sparkled.
"Really!! You must be a mage then. What kind of Magic do you use?" Hisui asked.
"I wouldn't call it magic but…" Meliodas took a step back and darkness began to leak out of his back. The darkness began changing shape until it looked like a pair of wings.
"Can you really fly??" Hisui asked, her eyes gleaming.
"Of course I can! Hop on!" Meliodas offered. Meliodas kneeled on the ground and gestured towards his shoulders. Hisui ran towards Meliodas, climbing on his back until Meliodas was giving her a piggyback ride. Meliodas stood up and jumped into the air where he started floating above the ground.
"I can't believe it! You're actually flying!" Hisui exclaimed. Meliodas ascended at a consistent pace until he was high above Crocus. Hisui's eyes widened at the view. She had never seen Crocus from this angle before.
"Hold on." Meliodas said as he began flying east, towards Magnolia Town, speeding up.
The three figures in the alleyway woke up and looked up at the sky. There, they saw a brief glimpse of the mysterious young blond boy who had attacked them, flying in the sky, with wings of darkness sprouting from his back while Hisui hung onto his shoulders. Underneath their masks, their eyes widened with shock at what they had just witnessed.
"Quick, we need to return to the castle! Someone is kidnapping the princess!!!" One of the figures shouted, with noticeable panic in their voice.
"We must inform Sir Arcadios!" Another said. The three figures quickly stood up and ran in a full sprint towards the castle.
---
Arcadios was seated and still reading the same book when he suddenly heard a voice calling him once again. He felt peeved at the sudden interruption. He turned over and saw that it was the secret guard of the princess, causing him to stand up in panic at a possible worst case scenario.
"What are you idiots doing here!!!" Arcadios yelled at them.
"S-Sir...The princess has been kidnapped."